


The Darkness Can Be Calm

by XIIIthNobody



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 06:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15943772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XIIIthNobody/pseuds/XIIIthNobody
Summary: After the events of DDD, Riku suffers his fair share of nightmaresLuckily Sora is there to hold him together.





	1. Warmth and Light

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a text convo I had with a friend, which lead to the soriku discord and said friend yelling at me to write a fic for it.
> 
> Very pleased I did honestly, I've missed writing them~
> 
> (I wrote this on my phone at work so please let me know if there's anything that needs fixing!)

Sora climbed slowly up the stairs to the room he shared with his friends in the tower, keeping careful to not step too loudly as he'd been out doing a quick check-in with some of the worlds and had lingered a bit longer than expected, returning fairly late into the night.

Lea and Kairi had been practicing outside when he got back, something about Kairi wanting to see how cool fire magic looked in the dark, so he left them to it, trusting and maybe praying a little that he wouldn't wake up to the smell of the foliage burning.   
They had let him know that Riku had been up for most of the day, way before they had been, so he'd gone up to bed a couple hours before Sora had returned.

With that in mind, Sora gently pushed the door open to their moonlit bedroom, and used that light to find where he had tossed his bedshirt and shorts that morning, changing into them again with a mental note that he should probably do laundry at some point tomorrow, aiming his bundle of day clothes at what he hoped was the direction of the hamper. 

He was about to climb into his own bed, when he heard the sound of sheets shifting around, followed by mumbling and some noises of discomfort. Standing back upright, he turned to the source of the noise and saw Riku with his hand gripping his sheets tightly, his face scrunched up in distress, muttering and moving as though he was trying to escape or get to something in his dream.

"Riku...?" He whispered, softly, not wanting to startle him. When he got no response, he walked the few steps it took to get to the other's bed, and stood over him. He was clearly having a nightmare, but Sora wasn't sure how to snap him out of it without scaring him further. Throwing caution to the wind, he very carefully put one knee on Riku's mattress, and shifted himself over his body, settling on the other side, laying down.

He slowly and gently scooted closer to his best friend, arms coming up to hold around his middle, one hand taking the fingers that had been gripping the sheet and sliding into them, letting him cling to his hand instead. Riku jolted at the sudden presence and his eyes flew open, trying to turn to see what was holding onto him, in a panic. 

"Nonono hey. Hey. Riku, it's me, it's just me, it's Sora."

He visibly calmed after hearing his voice and shifted back into Sora's chest, letting both his bodily warmth and his internal light wash over him and keep him grounded. 

"You were having a nightmare, I've got you. You're safe."

Riku nodded, his breathing evening out, and his hand squeezing Sora's in return. 

"They were trying to take you away again."

Sora pulled him closer, dropping a reassuring kiss against his shoulder, nuzzling his face into skin. 

"You kept me safe in the dream world, it's my turn to keep you safe out here. We've got this, okay? No matter what they're planning to throw at us, we'll be alright."

Riku gave a small, unseen smile at that, nodding again, and he relaxed into the soft mattress, Sora's continuous whispered reassurances lulling him back into a dream where they were victorious.

Both of them slept well into the next morning.


	2. Nightmares Hold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SO IT WAS SUPPOSED TO ONLY BE A ONESHOT 
> 
> WOOPS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the nightmares get to Sora too
> 
> (Unbeta'd and written on phone, please tell me if anything needs fixing)

After a few short days the two of them had fallen into a routine, which seemed to do them both good. If one would be back from a mission before the other, the other side of the bed was open, should he need it. After a couple weeks, the idea of having four beds in the room seemed redundant, but they weren't quite sure if they should explain why. 

On one such night, Riku had settled into what had basically become their bed, instead of just his, and gently moved Sora aside, wiggling into his arms so he could fall asleep easily. And sleep claimed him rather quickly, the gentle pulse of Sora's heart beating against his from where their chests made contact, the brunette having woken up just enough to shift on top of Riku, giving him a warm human blanket. 

His dream started off pleasant enough, but it soon began to flash through moments from when he was fifteen, to when he felt alone and betrayed, and he saw his dream self lash out at Sora again and again, both to his face, and internally. He saw Sora, on the other side of the door, Sora, slipping into a dream he feared he may never wake from, and it was then that his nightmare swirled up and up around him, taking a physical form of darkness bubbling up on his legs, rising up his body, consuming him. 

And he saw Sora, on the other side of the island they used to spar on, being dragged into the same fate, the darkness swallowing him, the other boy reaching for his hand, a scream echoing from his mouth before he was dragged under. 

_"SORA!!"_

As the darkness swallowed the other, a new form emerged, one that he recognized in despair. A form with glowing eyes and a dark, wispy body, that oozed out of the darkness cloud and drifted towards him. A single clawed hand reached for him, tearing into his chest, pulling out his still beating heart and crushing it to dust in one fluid motion. Though that should have been excruciating, he felt no pain, until he looked up at Sora's shadow form that was starting to dissolve, and when they made eye contact, he felt like every emotion in his heart was being pulled in a thousand directions, causing him to scream til the point that his throat was burning from the strain.

He heard another scream, not from him, echoing in the distance, as though it was coming from outside his mind, and he snapped to his senses, opening his eyes in a flash, to look at the boy that had featured heavily in his dreams. 

Sora was breathing hard, his chest heaving and sweat beading across his forehead, tears running absently down his cheeks. He looked over at Riku, his eyes wide in terror, and reached up to place a hand on his chest, right where his anti self had run him through in Riku's dream. 

"They were...Riku...there were eyes, everywhere. Gold eyes and- and you, I didn't-" he coughed, having also screamed hard in his sleep, his voice giving life to the scream that hadn't left Riku's mind. "I'm so... I'm so sorry, I would never..."

Riku pulled him in tight, letting him shake against his shoulder, warm, reassuring hands pressed against his back to keep him steady. He glanced across the room at where Lea and Kairi had both sprung out of their beds, each sporting some truly magnificent bedhead that he would have laughed at if not for the gravity of the situation. Each had drawn their keyblade and was sleepily holding it at the ready, though he wondered if he should tell Lea he was holding his backwards. 

Shaking his head to them to indicate that everything was fine for now, they nodded and quietly left the room to give them some privacy, Lea making some motions about getting a snack, which should keep them busy for a short while at least, considering the kitchen liked to teleport at a moments notice.

Bringing his attention back to Sora, he brought a hand up to run through his hair, kissing the top of his spikes, the other still rubbing gentle circles against the fabric of his tank top. Sora had thankfully calmed a little, and was running his fingers absently against Riku's skin, distracting himself with the texture. His hand slid down to where he'd taken Xemnas's weapon to his side, the blade having left warped skin in its wake, a scar standing out in stark contrast on his skin. 

"You shouldn't always have to take the fall for me, Riku...it's going to leave you more than injured one of these days and that's not something I want to consider." 

Riku's hand moved as well, slipping between them to run his hand across Sora's own scars, over his shirt, the fabric brushing against the damaged skin in an odd way. 

"C'mon, you aren't the only one allowed to be self sacrificial for the people you care about, let us have some of the fun."

He was met with a groan and Sora squeezing his cheeks in between his hands, rubbing them around so his lips puckered up like a fish. 

"You're stubborn, but you're the best I could ever want."

Riku grinned at him through the squeezing, the tension from their nightmares dissipating, and he wiggled free of his hold, letting Sora's hands just rest on his face, moving his to do the same in return. 

"And you know I love you more than all the worlds combined. I'd dive and rescue you a thousand times and then a thousand times again, if it would keep you safe."

Sora drew him in for a gentle, lingering kiss, humming their hearts song quietly as they lay down, and they settled into a quiet sleep, their bodies resonating in protection together.


End file.
